Thursday, January 28, 2010

All four Democratic candidates for Cook County Board President appeared together this past Sunday in a West Rogers Park forum, moderated by WTTW's Carol Marin.

The event was sponsored by a new group calling itself, "The Rogers Park Organization," and it printed handbills announcing the event on paper which showed the computer signature of the local Alderman, Berny Stone's, campaign organization.

Before a predominately Jewish audience at Temple Menorah on California Ave., the four Democratic hopefuls spouted the predictable political pablum and then answered questions written by the audience and submitted to Marin for review.

Most were about the well publicized scandals surrounding the four.

County Board President, Todd Stroger lamely defended his nepotistic hiring practices saying that he only had two relatives on the County payroll and that he couldn't order them not to take 6 figure county jobs.

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle said that she hadn't taken any more money from shady developer, Tony Rezko, since she found out he was letting his properties run down in her ward.

County Clerk, Dorothy Brown said that funds from her "blue jean day" shakedown of her employees all went to charity.

Water Reclamation Board President, Terry O'Brien said that he had no patronage employees and had no control over the stink that wafts down Birchwood Ave. from his water treatment plant and wondered why Preckwinkle had voted to raise her own pay four times.

With the scandal explanations out of the way, Marin, to her great credit, passed along to them a substantive and seldom asked question.

She asked them: "Do you believe that Cook County taxpayers should be expected to underwrite the costs of non-emergency medical treatment for illegal aliens at Cook County's Stroger Hospital.?"

Without so much as batting an eyelash, all four essentially said yes.

(Are you taking notes, Roger Keats?)

The question is an important one given the Cook county's woeful fiscal situation. It's a salient one given the county's highest in the nation sales taxes and the new 5% property tax increases that county homeowners are now getting in the mail.

Due to the strictures of political correctness and the desire of these four candidates to pander to the Latino vote, it is a seldom asked question.

But it is the 800 pound elephant in the room.

Back in 2007, the chief of Cook County medical services, Dr. Robert Simon, was almost run out of town on a rail when he dared to testify that uncollectable services to illegal aliens were a major cause of the county medical system's budgetary problems.

"The taxpayers are paying the entire bill for all these undocumented aliens and our primary concern should be for the taxpayers and citizens," he told the Daily Southtown.He said that the county was providing long-term care to nearly 30 illegal aliens at its Oak Forest Hospital facility at a cost of $800 per patient per day.

By my calculations, that alone comes to almost $3 million in services to just these few indigent people, who aren't legitimately even supposed to be in the country.

And immigration control activist, Rosanna Pulido, said at the time that nearly 40% of all services rendered by the Cook county medical system went for the illegal alien population.

But in that same year, 2007, the County Board voted to make Cook a "sanctuary county," meaning that hospital admissions personnel were then precluded from even inquiring as to the legality of one's presence in the country.

So we really can't know how massive the problem may be. But Dr. Simon, the man with day-to-day oversight of the system sure thought it was significant.

So the bottom line is -- anyone, from anywhere on the face of the earth -- if they can just somehow manage to get to 1900 W. Polk in Chicago -- can receive 1st world medical care, courtesy of the taxpayers of Cook County.

It kind of makes Stroger Hospital the new Lourdes of the USA.

Maybe Daley's office of tourism can cash in by promoting it as such and by sponsoring international pilgrimages to this great healing shrine.

And I want the concession for sales of the sacred statues and relics of patron Saints Stroger, Preckwinckle, Brown and O'Brien. I will sell them to the hordes of pilgrims as they get off the bus on Polk Street.

6 comments:

everyone makes it seem that immigrants dont pay taxes when every time they buy something they are paying sales tax. also most of them work in low paid jobs. we are so quick to help haiti but we dont want to help people we need medical care here

Do you mean to tell me that those 30 or so illegal alien families whose members are getting gold-plated long term medical care from Cook county are paying $3 million a year in nickels and dimes when they make purchases at the local Walgreens?

If that's so, why don't we just forget about property taxes and just all pay for all government services -- including education --with the sales taxes that we pay when we go to buy our Mars bars and M&Ms?

To the Ignorant, Sympathetic and probably an illegal alien who sent comment #1 & signed it Anonymous. I'm 67 years old. I have paid my taxes for over 42 years!!!! I am now on Medicare and have to collect Social Security. I have to pay $100 a month for medicare, $100 a month for a supplement medical policy because medicare doesn't pay for all my bills. I pay $45 a month for my prescription drugs, and still pay out-of-pocket costs not covered by any of these "privileges". All these medical coverages keep going up in cost to me and my social security benefits are being reduced! I can't make ends meet!!! The illegals come to this country illegally and expect & demand free medical coverage. The small amount of tax they pay for their Tequilla, beer and cigarettes doesn't entitle them to free medical treatments and hospital stays. The tax they pay for their taco's at Taco Bell and dinners at La Hacienda don't entitle them to take a share of my social security retirement money. President Stroger is no different that President Obama! Both rely on ACORN and the illegal aliens VOTE!! #1) There should be NO FREEBEES for the illegals. (Medical, food, housing, social security and my having to DIAL 1 for English) #2) The government(s) (City, State & National) should put into law that all illegals (NON CITIZENS) be denied any & all medical treatment unless they pay for the treatment or drugs in C A S H !!! #3) You claim most of these people work in "low paying" jobs. For your information, there are hard working, tax paying American citizens who are out of jobs and would give their right arm just to get that "low paying" job taken by the illegal. #4) What you can't comprehend is this: An American who has that "low paying" will provide food for his family & STILL PAY HIS TAXES!!! The illegal will not!! #5) When November comes & the snow is on the ground, most illegals take their nest egg of money & scamper back to Mcallen Texas or Mexico & live like Kings & Queens & not worry about paying income tax! #6) You may ask, Why no tax?? Because having had between 30 to 40 Mexican laborers working for me in the past, I have first hand knowledge that every year when they return to that "low paying" job, they mysteriously have a different social security number from the previous year. #7) What better way to "stiff" the government of having to pay income taxes and still get all the benefits of an American citizen. Finally, you have nothing you can complain about for feeling like a mistreated minority. When you can say you were in the Military like I was for 5 years (Illinos Army National Guard), paid taxes for over 42 years and scrimped and saved for retirement only to see it given away to illegals like you, then you'll have a right to stand up and holler! Till then, please pack up your bags, load up you nine kids, jump in you Chevy pick up andGO BACK TO WHEREVER YOU CAME FROM!! OH...AND DON'T EVER COME BACK.

The Democrat Socialist Party of Chicago doesn't give a rats ass about how broke they make us. The more problems they create as with allowing illegals to get treated at Cook County, the higher they can raise our taxes.

In effect, this allows them to control more of what we make and we have less control over what we earn.

Well you certainly are a little expert at changing the topic when it becomes too uncomfortable to deal with the facts. Facts are stubborn things. Fact is Preckwinkle said she would maintain services to illegals at Cook Co. Hospitals. Fact is Dir. of the Hospitals said services to illegals are bankrupting the system. Fact is Preckwinkle now says she will maintain Stroger's tax increase because system is going broke. HMMMM!!

Why are you afraid of dealing with those inconvenient facts rather than cheaply throwing out ad hominem attacks on Pulido -- who was peripheral to the story?

A Word From The Publisher:

About The Chicago Lampoon

Chicago is a very funny city.

In fact, it is a windswept glacial burg that is the source of a never-ending supply of knee-slappers and outright horselaughs.

From the neophyte community organizer that it foisted on an unsuspecting American electorate to the mop-topped sociopathic boy-Governor that it sent to the Letterman show, to its storied depression era, tommy-gun toting philanthropists, it has produced some truly amusing and amazing characters.

It has a Mayor who is a former ballet dancer, who served in a foreign army and who threatens political enemies by sending them dead fish in the mail. It has 50 sleepy Alderman and 5, usually somnolent professional sports franchises

It has two Jesse Jacksons!

It has more potholes per capita than Nairobi, a creaky 1940s-era elevated train system and cops who get caught on videotape punching out bar maids and businessmen.

As we have since 2009, we are only going to report and comment on what actually happens in Chicago. To make up stuff this weird would tax our inventive capabilities to the limit (or at least as high as the, highest-in-the-nation, Cook County sales taxes.)

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